Little gardener

I’ve been doing a lot of landscaping and yard work and the kids are showing an interest too!  Evelyn got a gardening kit as a gift and we kept putting off doing it knowing we had a move coming up etc. Well, we finally got around to it and she is nursing her little seedlings, willing them to grow!  Crossed fingers!!

Soaking her soil disks...

Planter decorated...

Labels made...

All planted, watered and done...

And now we wait...

Future architect?

Evelyn has built a hotel out of her magnet blocks and now the girls are playing in it like a dollhouse. This girls imagination continues to amaze me. She’s so creative!

My little Dragon

Just my silly little dragon....

Mornings with Little Joe...

Life has certainly slowed down a bit with the coronavirus. There’s rarely anywhere to go in the early mornings. No rush, rush, rush of getting four kids out the door. The girls have taken to sleeping in but Joseph is still up early. I’m lucky if I get to sleep until 6:30. So, it’s just morning conversations with my little Joe... the quiet before the storm of the day...

Imagination

I love it when I quietly stumble upon the kids during imaginative play.  I just like to sit and listen when they don't know I'm there.

Celebrating Evelyn!

With everything going on in the world today, we had a difficult time celebrating Evelyn's birthday.  We tried to make it as special as we possibly could!  Her actual birthday fell on a Tuesday and Joe had to work.  The movie theater in town has reopened with social distancing rules etc.  They aren't playing any new movies because nothing is out, but they're playing some old favorites at a discounted price.  I decided to take the girls to see the live action Jungle Book.  We had, not only our auditorium to ourselves, but the ENTIRE THEATER!  We were the only ones there!  We loaded up with popcorn, candy, and I even let the birthday girl have her own soda.  After the movie is back home for Joseph's nap time.  At dinner, Evelyn got to pick anything she wanted for a picnic dinner at the playground.  We capped off the night with a few gifts and cupcakes at home.

As many know, I make the kids' birthday cakes every year.  Evelyn wanted Wonder Woman!  We have friends coming at the end of the month to stay so we decided to postpone her cake until later.  Well, then those friends had to cancel their trip due to coronavirus so she got her cake a week after her birthday when Papa Joe and Maddie were visiting.  I'm thankful that it doesn't take much to please this happy girl.  She is thrilled to be SEVEN!

Woke up to birthday cards in the mail!

We had the whole place to ourselves!  We loved the reclining seats and the personal tables for all our snacks!

She did such a good job with her new Wonder Woman lego set!

Wonder Woman blanket!

Besides Wonder Woman, Evelyn's other love is Tigger!  Here she is showing me how her new birthday Tigger slippers help her to BOUNCE!

All dressed up and ready to blow out her candles!

Our private lake!

We are having some very warm days here in Durango and it's caused us to enjoy our private community lake funded by our HOA.  The kids had such a great time.  The HOA has been saying that, due to the coronavirus and people staying home more, the lake is getting more use than ever before.  But we were the only ones there for most of the time.  Just a mile down the road from our house...

We brought our own sand toys but the lake has community kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards to use...and also some sand toys for the kids too!

Yup...this is how you sleep when you spend the afternoon at the lake

Bruno's first hike!

Many of you have already seen these pictures because I posted them on facebook but here they are again.  We took Bruno on his first hike today.  We had no idea how he would do.  This is a hike we've done before.  Great Danes are not sporting dogs and don't do well with endurance so we have to be careful not to overheat him.  He donned his backpack, filled with water and his leash and we were off.  I am so proud of how wonderful he did but I think he did double the hike as the rest of us as he traveled back and forth from the person up front to me and Joseph way in the back to check on everyone! He slept for the entire rest of the day!

Once you get to the overlook there are two directions you can go: to the waterfall (which we've done before and I've posted pictures) or up to the summit.  The path up to the top turns very steep and is difficult for the little kids and the dog.  I waited in the shade at the overlook with the little ones and Bruno while Daddy and Lorelai traveled the rest of the way.  They were rewarded with some stunning views!

Joseph and Scarlet busied themselves running down hills while we waited for Joe and Lorelai

Evelyn tried her hand at taking some pictures...

Look at these scavengers!  Swarming around the backpack of snacks!

Good Boy!